Fresno Pacific University Director of Athletics Aaron Henderson has announced the decision to relaunch the university’s women’s tennis program next fall. The program will become the 15th sport offered at FPU and is set to compete in the Pacific West Conference during the 2018-19 season.
“We’re very excited to be reintroducing our women’s tennis program to the Central Valley as well as our campus community,” said Henderson. “The regional popularity of the sport combined with the opportunity to continue to create athletic opportunities for young women throughout the Central Valley made it a logical choice for our next sport offering. With excellent facilities already in place, we will be conducting a national search to identify a quality head coach for the program. It’s our hope that Sunbird women’s tennis can have a positive impact within our community as well as NCAA Division II.”
The program gets a fresh start after compiling a record of 200-41 from 2006-2014. During their time in the NAIA’s Golden State Athletic Conference, the Sunbirds won seven consecutive league championships and surpassed 100 consecutive victories against GSAC opponents.
FPU claimed the NAIA National Championship in 2010 and finished as the national runner-up five times before joining the NCAA prior to the 2012-13 academic year. Fresno Pacific also won the National Christian College Athletic Association Championship in 2013 during the school’s transition to the NCAA, and the Sunbirds were nationally-ranked during each of their two seasons in the PacWest Conference.
Fresno Pacific will be joining an already talent-rich NCAA Division II West Region and Pacific West Conference that has a reputation of competitive excellence in women’s tennis. The PacWest saw five teams ranked in the final edition of last spring’s ITA Top 25 Poll, and FPU would make the PacWest the largest Division II conference in the nation.
A national search for a head coach will commence immediately in order to begin recruiting efforts for the 2018-19 season.
For more information, contact Jeremiah Wood, associate athletics director at jeremiah.wood@fresno.edu or 559-453-4646.